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What If Mapleshade Was Never Banished?
Prologue Tail held high, Maplestar pranced into the Gathering. Every cat from each clan turned to gape at her, marveling at the muscles rippling under her tortoiseshell-and-white pelt. Her mate, Birchface, started yowling her name at the sky, and the other cats joined in. "Maplestar! Maplestar! Maplestar!" She glanced at them, a celebrity graciously acknowledging her fans, then went to greet Birchface. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered. She nuzzled his head, then continued towards the Four Trees. All cats parted to let her through, looking up at her with admiring eyes. Maplestar took her place with the other leaders, and the Gathering begun. While Darkstar talked about RiverClan's latest litter of kits, her gaze passed across all the cats present. Four faces stood out to her, Birchface, Frecklewish, Ravenwing and Appledusk. Suddenly, the four cats started to glow, and she heard Appledusk's voice in her head. "This is not such a bad destiny is it? If you choose wrongly, this will be yours!" The scene faded, and she watched three kits being washed away in a terrible flood. Their voices echoed inside her head again and again. "Mama! Help me! You said we'd be alright! Help me Mama!" She seemed to watch herself from afar as she hid by the Highstones and murdered Ravenwing. Then when she attacked Frecklewish, and left her to die of adder venom. Finally, she saw herself murder Appledusk and wander away to die. She was horrified. Once more she heard Appledusk's voice in her head. "Choose wisely, or this will be your fate!" Chapter 1 Mapleshade woke with a start. The dream had been so vivid... but it couldn't of been real. Surely it hadn't been real. She could still smell Appledusk, but she wasn't certain if it was left over from the... vision, or if it was from her and Appledusk's nighttime stroll together. She tried to rub herself into her nest to attempt to dispel the scent, and it kind of worked. Kind of, because the Appledusk smell was replaced by the scents of the three kits, Ravenwing and Frecklewish. It must of just been a dream, because she had never seen the kits before the dream, or vision, and Ravenwing was in the medicine cat den. Frecklewish was curled up in a nearby nest, same with Birchface. She remembered the dream once more, and how happy she had been with Birchface as her mate. She loved Appledusk, but she had smelled another she-cat on his fur each time she sneaked out of camp to meet him. Finally she drifted off back to sleep, fantasizing a future with Birchface. Chapter 2 "Mapleshade! Wake up!" Mapleshade was woken by Birchface. The dark tabby tom was hovering over her, and odd look on his face. Was that... awkwardness? Did he feel the same way she now felt about him? She smiled up at him. “Thanks Birchface. I would have slept til the next gathering if you hadn’t woken me.” Birchface mrrowed in amusement. “You sleep like a badger Mapleshade. Sometimes I wonder why you aren't deaf. It takes real skill to avoid becoming deaf when your snores keep all the Clans awake.” Mapleshade, rather hurt, pushed him away playfully. The light that shone in his eyes dimmed. Did he think he’d gone too far? She had loved seeing him like that. Was there a chance she could be happy with Birchface? Her heart nodded its agreement. “Am I patrolling with you today?” Mapleshade’s question seemed to take the tom by surprise. He looked hopeful once more. “I could ask Beetail. Surely he’d let us.” Mapleshade purred, and stretched. “Well, I can’t wait for then. See you Birchface.” She left him, her heart beating excitedly. She had never felt this way with Appledusk before. She couldn’t get Birchface’s loving eyes out of her mind. It had felt so special, and better, it wouldn’t be forbidden. She could love Birchface, take him as a mate, and bear his kits. He would love her the same way she now loved him. Probably more. Chapter 3 The moment Mapleshade entered the Gathering, she noticed Appledusk. The pale brown tom was talking to Reedshine, a dark ginger she-cat from RiverClan. She narrowed her eyes at him. Was Reedshine his mate now? She hadn't seen Appledusk for moons, was it possible that is love had changed from her to Reedshine? Hurt rose to the top of her heart when the two began sharing tongues. How ''dare ''Appledusk. He seemed to love Reedshine more then he had ever loved her. Her pelt brushed with Birchface's, and her hurt softened. She didn't need Appledusk. She had Birchface, the most loyal, caring and fun mate imaginable. She smiled at him, and he purred back. She gestured at a cluster of WindClan cats. "Let's sit over there." Birchface nodded in agreement. "Sure." Midgepelt, a brown WindClan tom, acknowledged them with a flick of his tail. "Hello Birchface. Mapleshade." His companion, a pale grey tabby tom, shifted over to make room for them. "We were talking about Larkwing. Turns out he had greencough and was infecting all the patients." He purred with amusement, and Birchface joined in. Mapleshade however, couldn't purr at this knowledge. "Is he alright?" Midgepelt gave her a surprised look. "Yes, he recovered well thanks to Sloefur. Why do you care?" Mapleshade, relieved to hear this, shrugged. "WindClan can't be without a medicine cat, can they?" Midgepelt nodded, but continued gazing at her oddly. Finally, he seemed to get over it, and rejoined the conversation. When the Gathering finally ended, she still felt his gaze upon her.